A chill ran down his spine when he saw the scene before him.

"What in the hell...?"

BOOM!!

BOOOM!! BOOM!!!

SSRHHHHH!!!! KCHHHH!!!

Continuous explosions and sharp slashes echoed tens of thousands of times. Gorven’s skin had changed into something far darker as he faced a...glowing Elf?

Dresh floated in the sky as massive wind blades capable of cutting mountains if wielded were hurled towards the beast standing tall below.

"Is that...Earth Element? Damn, this oaf was really strong. One hit from those arms, and I’m sure even Vraelyn can’t save me."

Emperal gulped as he watched them.

Gorven’s hands were entirely covered in earth elements, and this was not your mud from below. But the mud mixed with Verth!

His arms had grown long, and he was holding spikes in one hand. With a furious roar, he threw the spike straight at Dresh.

"Tch"

Dresh waved her hand, and the wind around the spike shifted. Making it miss her by an arm’s length.

Gorven stepped forward, "This is just the beginning! Magnetite Claw!!"

Gorven’s veins pulsed with iron-rich earth Verth, bending his knees. He leapt towards Dresh, his huge body crossed hundreds of meters, and arrived in front of Dresh in an instant.

"Arrogant! To dare fight me in the air!?"

Dresh frowned and stretched her hand forward, fresh and raw. Verth danced around her palm as she opened her mouth,

"Gale Lance"

The wind suddenly shifted as a spear of compressed wind formed. With a twist, she violently hurled the spear towards the incoming Gorven.

Gorven let out a mighty roar as he raised his fists and struck the lance with all his might.

BOOOM!!!

A massive shockwave erupted, forcing the cultivators below to hold their bodies tight. Nearby trees were flattened by the shockwave, and the ground beneath the cultivators collapsed.

Far from the epicenter, Emperal moved through the ongoing chaos like a shadow. Blood had stained the ground while flames flickered on the surrounding trees. Screams echoed from every direction, but he didn’t stop. More specifically, he couldn’t.

There was no way he could let them compromise and talk it out by dragging this out, using their strength and wits. It was only a matter of time before they noticed the disturbance around the Spirit Formation.

Calder stumbled beside him and almost fell. His breathing was uneven.

"C-Can we even make it? I-I’m having second thoughts now."

"Shut up and keep running. We are almost there."

Emperal’s resolute voice forced Calder to buck up. It was not an easy task to bear even the residual aura of those two fighting there.

Ahead of their path, barely visible in the smoke and debris...there stood the formation.

It was a circular array of glowing runes carved into a stone pillar, pulsing with residual power.

"Just a little further," Emperal muttered, earning a nod from Calder.

Suddenly, a huge chunk of rock collapsed ahead of them, blocking their path. Emperal didn’t hesitate and vaulted over the rubble, pulling Calder with him.

Calder’s lungs burned, and his legs screamed. But he didn’t stop.

Behind them, the air itself was affected as Gorven and Dresh clashed repeatedly.

Emperal didn’t bother to look back, reaching the formation. He threw Calder onto one of the glowing runes.

"O-Ow! Bastard, what are you doing?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Calder complained, rubbing his ass, "Stay there and don’t move."

Turning around, his gaze dropped to the formation.

"Any idea on how I could get inside?" Emperal muttered inwardly. Soon, an arrogant voice echoed inside his head.

"Yes, alter that formula over there and replace it with a new one. And fix the eastern edge, it seems to be slightly damaged. And finally, drop some blood.

Emperal’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the formation intensely; the runes flickered and glowed intensely.

For a moment, he just stood there awkwardly.

"...Which formula exactly?" Emperal hissed. Who does this dragon think he is? Emperal was not a formation master. Not even close.

"The concealment seal...the triangular pattern. Shift the apex rune clockwise by one position."

Emperal immediately crouched below, his finger tracing the rune below. He could feel the intense Verth stored in it, and even the radiation was no joke.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed his palm against the rune. At first, it seemed to resist, but in the next second, the rune rotated.

The glow of the rune slowly flickered, dimmed, and then once again stabilized into a deeper crimson.

"Good work, now fix the eastern edge. Quickly, or else those Verth Shapers would instantly notice the shift in the apex."

The Infernal Dragon urged Emperal, who didn’t waste even half a second. He dashed to the other side. The eastern edge was worse than he had expected; it was a jagged crack that ran through two of the runes...almost splitting the pattern in half.

"How...the hell am I going to fix this?"

"Channel your Verth into the crack and let it flow like...ink filling in the mold. The formation itself will remember its original shape."

He immediately placed both hands on either side of the crack and closed his eyes.

His Verth, although unstable internally, began to flow smoothly inside the crack.

"Mhm, such fine Verth control." The Infernal Dragon nodded inwardly in appreciation. In such situations, one’s Verth will always be volatile. But Emperal’s? His was smooth as butter.

The Verth flowed from his palms like liquid light and seeped into the fracture, filling the gaps.

The runes trembled for a moment. For a second, Emperal believed they would shatter. But then, they stabilized and the crack sealed shut with a faint zipp!

"Done, now drop your blood and...that man’s blood."

The Infernal Dragon spoke, without hesitation. Emperal cut open his finger and dropped a drop of blood. At the same time, he slashed at Calder...drawing more than a drop of blood.

"Y-You crazy maniac!? Why would you do that?" Calder screamed in horror as he watched his precious blood flowing down.

The moment his blood touched the runes, the entire formation ignited, and light exploded. It was blinding and pure.

"W-What is this bitch doing!?" Calder couldn’t help but shiver when he saw the formation lit up.

"Hey, answer me!"

Calder shouted, gripping the stone pillar tightly.

"We are getting inside! Hold on tight!"